


jam jars and lightbulbs

by mentallyincali



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Baker Derek Hale, Card Games, College Student Stiles Stilinski, Cookies, First Kiss, Games, Gen, M/M, Meet-Cute, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Multi, References to Clue | Cluedo, it turns into a text fic for like three seconds but then goes back to normal, she/they pronouns for cora, they/them pronouns for malia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28708860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mentallyincali/pseuds/mentallyincali
Summary: what happens when derek has a baking crisis and then a week later stiles has an electrical problem ? a chance meet cute between neighbors derek hale and stiles stilinski :)
Relationships: Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes
Comments: 3
Kudos: 65





	jam jars and lightbulbs

Derek looks at the jam jar in front of him and curses. Stupid jar. Stupid british recipe. Why did he even choose blackberry jam? He has a perfectly good jar of strawberry jam in the fridge that’s already opened. Derek sighs and picks the jar up again. He knocks the top against the counter edge a few times and grips it tight and twists. Again, it doesn’t come off. He lets out a frustrated grunt and puts the jar back down on the counter and then rests his elbows on the counter and puts his head in his hands. The only thing he can do now is knock on his neighbors door and hope they’re home and can open his jar for him. Derek knows that a scary old couple lives in the apartment to his left. Two of his best friends from high school live in the one to his right, but they’re out of town right now. He hasn’t really met his neighbor across from him but they’ve bumped into each other a few times and he seems nice enough. A little eccentric if anything but not bad. Derek grabs the offending jar and crosses his fingers as he walks to his door and opens it and stares at the other door across from him. He takes a deep breath and crosses the hallway to knock on the door. He only has to wait a few moments before he hears someone turning the door knob. 

"Hey Scotty! You know you can let yourself- Oh you’re not Scott?" says the young man. Derek smiles sheepishly at him. 

“Hey, uh yeah, not Scott. My name’s Derek. I live across the hall," He gestures behind him to the door he’s left open. "And look I’m so sorry for bothering but I really need some help. This stupid jar won’t open for me and I was hoping you could try ..?" Derek holds the jar up in front of him and his neighbor laughs. It’s not malicious or mocking, just light hearted and nice. 

"Nice to meet you man, name’s Stiles. I could try and help, I guess?" He scratches the back of his head. "If you couldn’t get it I don’t know how much luck I’ll have, but I’ll give it a go." Stiles takes the jar from Derek and braces it against his hip. The younger man bites the inside of his lip and twists with everything in him. There’s a few moments of silence before it’s broken with the seal on the jam jar popping. Stiles lets out a quiet cheer and Derek lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

"There you go man. One lidless jam jar." Stiles holds out the jar and lid to Derek. 

"Thank you so much. Literally, thank you. I’m making cookies and I could have used my already open strawberry jam jar but my sister’s favorite is blackberry so I chose this instead. I’ve been spending the last 15 minutes trying to open that." Derek lets out all in one breath. Stiles and Derek chuckle lightly together after Derek says everything.

"What kind of cookies are you making that need blackberry jam?”

"Oh, jammie dodgers. I don’t know if you’ve had them before? They’re British." Replies Derek, a slight blush travelling up his neck. 

"Let me guess," Stiles’ smile grows. "Doctor Who fan? TARDIS self destruct button?" 

"Yes! You’re the first person to know that immediately after I say what kind of cookies they are." Derek exclaims. 

"What can I say, I am a man of culture." Stiles says with a grin and nonchalant shrug. 

“I think you mean a man of nerd culture.” A new voice speaks up. Derek and Stiles turn their heads to the side to see a young man with floppy brown hair nearing them. 

"Scott," whines Stiles. "Don’t go around telling nice strangers how much of a nerd I am." Scott shakes his head at him and Derek steps back so Scott can enter Stiles’ apartment. He’s seen Scott here a few times before this. 

"I think he knew that the moment you knew what the cookies were." 

“That’s fair." Stiles says and shrugs. Derek glances at his watch and then back to his apartment. 

"Thank you so much for opening my jar. I’ll make sure to leave some cookies for you. It was really nice meeting you Stiles." 

“It was nice meeting you too Derek, I hope your sister likes the cookies!" 

And with that Derek and Stiles head back into their respective apartments. While Derek makes his cookies he keeps thinking about Stiles laughing and how his eyes lit up when he realized what cookies he was making. Stiles pauses in his evening with Scott from time to time and thinks of Derek’s embarrassed explanation of why he was at his door and the grateful smile that broke over his face when the jar opened. The next day Stiles returns home from work to a little bag of cookies hanging on his door and a note with a small TARDIS doodle on it. Stiles smiles at it and silently mouths a thank you towards Derek’s door. 

~~~~~~~~~~

It had been about a week and a half since Derek knocked on Stiles’ door asking for help with his jam jar problem. After that initial introduction Stiles made an effort to greet Derek and ask him about his day whenever he saw him. It was nice to become friendly with him. Every now and then Derek would leave other cookies or pastries he baked for Stiles on Stiles’ door and that was pretty nice too. Tonight Stiles decided to take a chance on their budding friendship and risk knocking on Derek’s door for help this time. Derek opens the door and looks pleasantly surprised to see Stiles standing there. 

"Hey Stiles! What’s up? Did you like the croissants from yesterday?"

"Oh what? Oh yeah man, I Loved them. They were incredible. I swear you have some kind of baking magic or something that makes whatever you make taste perfectly." Derek laughs at that but a pleased blush turns his cheeks pink and he smiles. 

"Thanks Stiles.”

"Baking magic aside, I actually need some help. I don’t know what’s wrong with my apartment but like two of my lamps aren’t turning on and I was wondering if you had any light bulbs you wouldn’t mind parting with?" Stiles kind of trails off and looks hopefully up at Derek. Derek can’t help but smile down at him. 

"I think I should probably have some somewhere. Why don’t you go grab one of your bulbs that isn’t working and bring it over here so I can make sure it’s a match." 

"Yes, that’s perfect. That’s such a good idea." Stiles nods super fast and pivots around and dashes into his own apartment. "Be back in a minute." He races into his bedroom office and gently unscrews the two lightbulbs in there that aren’t working. He holds them carefully in his hands while he walks back out to the hallway. Derek is leaning on his own doorframe waiting for Stiles. He smiles when Stiles looks up at him and wiggles the light bulbs. 

“I grabbed them.” 

“Perfect.” responds Derek. “Come on in, I’ll go grab the bulbs I have from my closet. Stiles excitedly follows Derek into the apartment. He glances around and notices how different the set up of Derek’s apartment is from his and all the decor and things that make it Derek’s home. In Derek’s apartment the door opens into the living room area and to the left of it is a dining table and the kitchen. There’s a short hallway and doors that open into the bathroom and bedroom. Stiles’ apartment is way different. The door opens into the small hallway and is actually pretty much directly in front of the bathroom door. The living room area is to the right and the kitchen and dining table are in front of that next to the wall that is the bedroom. Derek emerges from a closet with two lightbulbs while Stiles is inspecting his bookshelf. He sees a lot of classic literature and a lot of cookbooks, but also a lot of historical fiction paperbacks. There’s also pictures of Derek with people dotted around the shelves. Stiles is pretty sure he sees a few pictures with Derek’s next door neighbors but he isn’t sure. 

“Alright, hand over your lightbulbs. I think these are a match but we should double check just to make sure.” Derek takes the lightbulbs from Stiles and looks at them and the ones from his apartment and nods. “Perfect match. These will work.”

“Hell yeah! I’m so glad. Thank you so much.” Stiles grins and grabs all the light bulbs from Derek and balances them in his hands. “I left my door open so I should probably get back there soon. Thank you again, dude!” Stiles sends one more big smile up to Derek and turns around to head back to his apartment. 

“Don’t call me dude, but you’re welcome Stiles. I’m glad I could help.” 

As Stiles walks away he begins to argue with himself. ‘Don’t be stupid, ask him for his number.’ ‘Okay but see, there’s this thing, he could say no and that would be kind of mortifying.’ ‘You would get over it, it wouldn’t really be that bad.’ ‘Okay fine, I guess I’m doing this.’ Stiles takes a deep breath and turns around to face Derek before he steps out of the other man’s apartment. 

“Hey Derek, what’s your phone number?” 

“I’ll write it down for you.” Derek says with a pleased grin on his face. He pats his pockets for a pen and looks around for some paper and writes the number down. “Here, thanks for asking. I was trying to figure out a good time to get your number, but you know.” He rubs the palm of his hand and shrugs. Stiles smiles and accepts the paper into his pile of light bulbs. 

“No problem man. I’ll text you later.” 

Stiles makes it back into his apartment without dropping any light bulbs and puts down the new ones on his bed and throws away the old ones. He stares at the piece of paper with Derek’s name and number on it before putting on the bed beside the new light bulbs. 

“I will deal with you after I put these new lightbulbs in.” A few moments later Stiles has got the new light bulbs screwed in and the lamps turn on and he smiles contentedly and rests his hands on his waist. “That is so much better.” He takes his phone out and takes a picture of the lit up lamp with a thumbs up in the foreground before grabbing the paper that Derek gave to him. He inputs the number, names the contact, and then debates about what to send.

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
6:38pm: it’s stiles 

6:38pm: thanks again for the lightbulbs i appreciate it :)

He sends the two text messages and then sends the picture through. He berates himself after a moment because what rational human being sends three individual messages as a first text. That is so not the impression he wanted to make. But then again, it’s not like he’s the most rational person in the first place. 

From: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
6:41pm: You’re welcome, Stiles. Glad I could help. 

Stiles decides not to say anything more, he’s happy just to have gotten Derek’s number into his phone and his number into Derek’s phone. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Derek’s phone. Friday. About one week after exchanging phone numbers, two and half since Derek and Stiles first met. 

From: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:45pm: omggg derek these cookies are so good what even is in them

12:45pm: those are definitely chocolate chips but like the actual cookie itself, cinnamon …? 

12:46pm: whatever it is it’s amazing PLZ send the recipe man

To: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:53pm: Finally on your lunch break, haha? Glad you like them. Yes, they’re cinnamon with just a little bit of ginger. 

From: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:54pm: oh man yum

To: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:54pm: Do you actually want the recipe?

From: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:55pm: ofc dude !! these cookies are so good and i would enjoy attempting to make them at some point

To: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:56pm: I’ll make sure to send you the recipe when I get home.

From: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:57pm: you’re not home now ??

To: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:58pm: On that grocery “grind”. 

12:58pm: picture attachment - small cart full of different foods

12:59pm: That is what the kids say nowadays, right?

From: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
12:59pm: loll derek you’re not that old

12:59pm: oop gotta go lunch is over talk to you later

To: Stiles (Across the Hall)  
1:00pm: Have a good rest of your shift. 

Stiles’ phone. Monday. Two weeks after exchanging phone numbers, three weeks after the first meeting. 

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:10am: picture attachment - disposable coffee cup with a flower logo that says Bloom Coffee 

9:10am: my friend, bless their soul, brought me coffee from their work before my first class

From: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:15am: Wait, you have a friend who works at Bloom?

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:15am: yeah, malia, they’ve worked there for like a year i think

9:15am: oh isaac too

From: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:16am: My best friends own that place. I’ve met Malia a few times and Isaac is really good friends with my sister, Cora. 

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:17am: yoooo you know erica and boyd and isaac ?? and cora is your SISTER ?? 

9:17am: dude that’s so cool, i have a few classes with cora and isaac and he’s also good friends scott

From: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:20am: I’m surprised you haven’t run into any of them yet. Isaac and Cora are always over at my apartment and I live right next to Erica and Boyd.

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:21am: im sorry WHAT ?????? 

9:21am: i live by malia’s bosses ??????

To: my coyote malia  
9:21am: hello ???? i literally live by your bosses ?? erica and boyd ??? also dereks besties with them ???

From: my coyote malia  
9:22am: Lmaoooo

9:22am: That is crazy man, I never realized that.

To: my coyote malia  
9:22am: worlds are literally colliding rn

From: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:25am: Haha, I guess you do. Sorry?

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:25am: no dont worry it’s not bad just crazy lmao

9:25am: worlds do be colliding 

9:25am: aw shit class is starting soon i’ve gotta go, bye byeee

From: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:30am: Haha, true. Have a good day Stiles.

To: Magic Baker Neighbor Derek  
9:30am: :) thanks you too man 

Stiles’ phone. Thursday. About a month after the initial jam jar meeting. 

To: Derek the Magic Baker Man  
8:05pm: hey dude me and scott are having a game hang out at my apartment on this coming sunday if you want to come

8:05pm: even if you’re not there you’d probably be able to hear it lol

8:07pm: it’s gonna be me, scotty, isaac, cora, allison, kira, and malia

8:08pm: it’s at 6pm and scott and i will be providing food to eat

From: Derek the Magic Baker Man  
8:20pm: That sounds good. I’ll be there. Want me to make some cookies?

To: Derek the Magic Baker Man  
8:23pm: dude yes that would be great

From: Derek the Magic Baker Man  
8:25pm: Awesome, see you then. 

To: scotty bro me up  
8:30pm: DEREK SAID HE’LL COME

8:30pm: HES GONNA MAKE COOKIES TOO

8:31pm: i’m so hyped but so nervous

From: scotty bro me up  
8:33pm: deep breaths dude *laughing emoji* it’s gonna be awesome

To: scotty bro me up  
8:33pm: i know i knowwwww

From: scotty bro me up  
8:35pm: i’ll tell ally that he’s coming, you make sure to text everyone else 

To: scotty bro me up  
8:35pm: aye aye captain

~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles glances around the living room area and mentally counts everyone in the small living room. Scott, Allison, and Isaac showed up together and Kira and Malia showed up shortly after them. Cora had texted Saturday saying that they had a frantic lab partner come to her with a last minute school crisis and wouldn’t be able to come. Stiles assured them that it was fine and that they’d all miss her. All the people that had already showed up were drinking from Stiles’ assorted plastic cups and playing Go Fish. Stiles pulled out the chips, salsa, veggies, and other finger foods that he and Scott put together out of the fridge and put them onto the counter. 

“Okay guys, what game are we gonna play first? I’ve got Cards Against Humanity, Taboo, and Bang. Scotty and Allison brought Apples to Apples and Uno. Isaac brought a bunch of decks of cards. Why do you have so many decks, dude?”

“Mind your own business, Stiles.” Isaac responds as he lays down a new pair. Stiles rolls his eyes at him.

“Whatever. I think we have a few more games somewhere. Kira, Malia, where did y’all put the games you brought tonight?”

“I didn’t bring any but Kira came in with some.”

“I brought Catan and Codenames. They’re by the door.”

“Why don’t we finish this Go Fish game real quick and then we can start something else?” Scott says, looking around to the group. Everyone nods and voices their assent and works on finishing the game. Stiles crunches on some chips and gathers all the games his friends brought and puts them on top of his small table. He lets the voices of his friend wash over him as he watches the door and wonders when Derek will show up. He hopes he does, he’s been a bundle of nerves since he invited him to the get together. Derek’s been nothing but smiles the entire week and has been acting like he normally does, but he won’t let Stiles know what cookies he’s bringing. Stiles has been guessing a different cookie each day, but Derek won’t say anything. Allison lets out a small cheer and Scott and Isaac groan loudly. Stiles looks over at them and sees Kira and Malia laughing. 

“I won! 10 pairs. Take that Isaac.” Allison taunts. 

“I was this close to getting my last pair, you were just lucky Allison.”

“Mhmm hmm. Sure I was.” Allison laughs and they begin gathering cards up. As they’re cleaning up the card game someone knocks on the door and Stiles jumps up. 

“I think that’s Derek. He’ll have cookies!” Stiles tells the group as he walks over to the door. He opens it to see Derek standing in the hallway in dark jeans and a worn looking, green long sleeve shirt. He’s holding a Clue box with a large plate of cookies on top of it.

“Hi, sorry I’m a little late. I forgot where I put Clue.”

“It’s no problem. Come in, come in.” Stiles moves out of the doorway to let Derek in. “What cookies did you make? I’ve been dying to know.” Derek toes his shoes off and lets out a light laugh. 

“I just hope I made enough of them. I slept in and then have been baking pretty much all day. They’re red velvet with white chocolate chips.” 

“Weirdly enough Isaac and Malia aren’t too into cookies so I bet we’ll be fine.” Stiles grabs one off the plates and shoves half a cookie into his mouth and makes a muffled moan. “Dude, these are incredible. Mark my words, magic baker man.” 

“Don’t call me dude. Where can I put these?” Derek says with a smile. 

“Oh you can put Clue over on the table with the other games and I’ll go put the cookies with the other food. They just finished a Go Fish game when you knocked so we’ve gotta figure out what to play now.” 

“You know Isaac and Malia. That goofy looking one is Scott and the beautiful lady next to him is his girlfriend, Allison. The lovely lady to Malia’s left is Kira. Everyone, this is Derek from across the hall.” As Stiles introduces everyone they all wave to Derek and he smiles back to them. 

“So, what are we gonna play?” Malia asks. 

“We’ve got a lot of options so what’s everyone feeling?” Scott stands up and goes towards the table laden with game boxes. “I vote for Apples to Apples or Uno.”

“Of course you would. Those are the only games you’re good at.” Isaac says with an eye roll. “I vote for Cards Against Humanity.”

“Me too.” Malia seconds. “Or Clue.”

“Oo yes! Let’s play Clue.” Allison chimes in. 

“Clue sounds good to me.” Kira says. Isaac agrees and Derek nods.

“Okay let’s do it then!” Stiles says. “Scotty, can you get it?” Scott nods and grabs the box from the top of the pile. They set up the game on the small plastic table that Isaac brought to Stiles’ apartment and settle around it.

“Wait, we have seven people, but there’s only six characters.” Kira says looking at the board. 

“Oh, uhhh, maybe someone can play as a team?” Stiles suggests. 

“That could work. Ally, you down with being a team?” Scott asks. Allison sighs heavily but smiles goodnaturedly at him. 

“You’re terrible at this game, but maybe with me on your team we might actually have a chance.” 

Everyone settles in and begins the game. Derek stays pretty quiet and doesn’t speak up much at the beginning, but as the game wears on he gets more comfortable with the group he starts bantering back and forth with people. Having someone he knows well, Isaac, there helps. Kira ends up winning Clue which isn’t a huge surprise because after Stiles she’s the most observant and likely to pick up on details and see stuff. They all congratulate her while Scott grumbles about Clue. After that half the group wants to play Uno and the other half wants to play Codenames so they split into two groups and begin their games. The night goes on as everyone plays games and chats and eats food. Everyone compliments Derek on his cookies, generally more than once and Derek always blushes and ducks his heads but says thanks. They play a few rounds Bang as a group and Derek wins the first round as the Sheriff. Isaac loses the second round as the Sheriff. After they’re done with Bang the game time kind of winds down and they just hang out while eating for a while. People start trickling out after 9pm with Malia leaving first. Scott and Allison leave after them and Kira gives Isaac a ride home around 9:30pm. Derek is the last guest and he stays behind to help Stiles clean up and put everything away. 

“You can go ahead and keep the extra cookies, Stiles.” 

“Really? Thank you, that's so sweet.”

“It’s no problem at all.” Derek smiles at him and Stiles beams back at him. All too soon everything is cleaned up and put away and Stiles watches Derek stick one of his hands in his back pocket and stand near the doorway, Clue in his other hand. 

“Thank you for inviting me to this Stiles. It was really nice to meet all your friends and I’m glad I got the chance to hang out with you more.” He slips his shoes on and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m glad you were home when I knocked on your door a month ago.”

“I’m glad I was home too. And I’m really glad you came tonight. It’s been nice seeing you around the building but we haven’t really had any time to just hang out for more than five minutes.”

“Would you - do you want to hang out for more than five minutes again?” Derek asks quietly while staring down at his feet. Stiles fidgets happily and moves closer to Derek.

“Derek, I would love to spend time with you. I’d love to do anything with you.” 

“I would really love that too, Stiles.” Derek looks up at Stiles as he says this and sees him standing close to him. Stiles closes the distance between them with one step and brings his hand up to the back of Derek’s neck. 

“Is it okay if I kiss you good night?” Derek nods and breathes out a yes at Stiles question and Stiles moves into Derek’s space with a happy sigh. Derek moves the game box in his hand to the side and presses his mouth to Stiles’. Stiles feels Derek’s soft lips against his and tightens his grip on the back of Derek’s neck. The kiss is light and short but speaks of so much more to come. Stiles steps back and smiles at the content look on Derek’s face. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the day I met you. Night night, Derek.” Stiles opens the door for Derek and watches him cross the hallway and go into his own apartment. Stiles stands in his doorway for a moment gazing at the door Derek disappeared behind before going into his own apartment. That night both men think of the other as they drift off to sleep and wonder when their first date will be.


End file.
